Seventeen Forever
by Shelbey
Summary: We're one mistake from being together, but let's not ask why it's not right. You won't be seventeen forever and we can get away with this tonight. There is one more night left to them before they part ways. Shane/Mitchie


**AN** I've been listening to this song obsessively for the past few days, so tell me what you think. I thought it was perfect for a Shane/Mitchie story! There's not lemon, it's just implied.

**Summary: **We're one mistake from being together, but let's not ask why it's not right. You won't be seventeen forever and we can get away with this tonight. There is one more night left to them before they part ways. Shane and Mitchie and something that might have happened.

It was quiet, the dead of night. The moon was a soft silver in the pitch black sky, dotted with never ending stars as far as one could see if they cared to look. The trees swayed ever so slightly in the gentle breeze, and the lake reflected the crescent body, giving a lovely, ethereal shine to it. The Camp Rock campers were fast asleep in their cabins, this the final night they would spend in the prestigious music establishment until the next summer comes around.

Well, most of them were asleep. Mitchie Torres tossed over again, trying her hardest to fall asleep in the cabin she shared with Caitlyn after Tess had revealed her secret to the world. She sighed. She just couldn't fall asleep. Something was bothering her, eating away at her heart and preventing her from even closing her eyes for more than a second before opening them again.

She knew she was fighting a losing battle against her eyelids. With a sigh, she sat up from the bed and carefully slid out of it, not wanted to wake up Caitlyn and Lola. Silently, she put on a pair of jeans and her moccasin boots and slunk out the door.

The weather was slightly chilly outside but not unbearable, in the least. She found it refreshing compared to being under the thick comforter that was on the bunk she used. Her progress across the trails was unwatched and unnoticed by anyone, even herself, until she surprised herself by arriving at the dock. This was one of her favorite places in the entire camp; the water was so serene and peaceful, and it held happy memories for her.

Her and...

Mitchie shook her head, mentally scolding herself. _Forget about him_, she ordered sadly. _He'll forget you after camp ends anyway, so what's the point in dwelling on the past?_ She slid down the side of the canoe to the ground, her head resting on her knees. Always the same order, and always the same reaction. There was no chance in the world that she would ever forget about Shane Gray. It was an impracticality, an impossibility, and she just couldn't stand the thought of never having his music in her ears or his smile in her sight and his hand in her own.

Okay, now she was just depressing herself. She could feel the tears start to well in her eyes and she held in her breath to keep herself from whimpering out loud. It just wasn't fair. Why did she have to fall in love with someone that she would never see again after this? Someone as obnoxious and rude and annoying... and sweet and talented and handsome as Shane? Not to mention ungodly famous and sure to start a tour the moment he left Camp Rock considering Jason and Nate canceled their summer one.

What place was there for her in his life? She was just some simple girl with simple origins that happened to be at the same place at the same time as him. There were plenty of other girls like her that he could fall in love with, and probably would once he got to know them the way he got to know Mitchie. She felt her heart drop into her shoes.

In fact, that's probably the way it was going to happen after he left Camp Rock forever. She stood up and turned to leave, her hands gripping her elbow as if that motion would keep her from crumbling down. Her entire world was falling apart at the seams, and though she thought she won the best summer of her life, she was losing it as it ended. Nothing would ever be the same again, after she lost Shane.

Mitchie would never be able to let him go.

Glancing up, she suddenly found herself in a very familiar place. She was mere inches away from Shane, just outside of his cabin. For a moment she stood still, her hand against the wooden part and her forehead resting on it, her eyes closed. He was right there, sleeping peacefully, not a care in the world. Not knowing that someone who loved him so much was close by, dreading the morning coming and tearing them apart. Probably for forever.

With a sigh she began to walk away, her hand trailing off the building sadly. Her foot suddenly refused to move, and she tripped forward, a loud snapping noise sounding beneath her as she fell to the ground. Mitchie was shocked, and saw that her foot had gotten caught in a gopher hole or a pothole or something. It soon became completely irrelevant as a shooting pain erupted from her ankle, and she bit her tongue to keep from crying out.

_Oh, no. Oh, no_, was all she could think as she pulled her foot tentatively out of the hole and slipping the boot off. It was starting to purple, and tears were dripping down her cheeks, the ache too much for her to bear. Mitchie didn't know what to do! The only person nearby was Shane, but she didn't want to wake him up because of her stupidity. Swallowing hard, after replacing the boot, she stood up slowly, trying to keep all her weight on her good foot. She inched forward, but the moment she put even a minute amount of pressure on the injured ankle she fell to the ground, and this time she couldn't hold in her scream.

Mitchie lay on the ground, crying silently, feeling like the most idiotic person in the world as a flashlight became evident inside of Shane's cabin. "Hello?" he called softly, peeking outside of his cabin door. "Is someone there?" She didn't have the strength to say anything, so she patiently waited with dread until the soft white glow of the electric light fell on her face. "Mitchie!" He rolled her onto her back and she gave him a sheepish smile, wiping her cheeks off.

"Hey," she murmured quietly, his worried face making her feel worse and worse.

He demanded, "What happened to you? Was that you screaming? Are you okay?" She wriggled herself from his grasp and used him as a crutch to pull herself to her feet. His hands were out as a precaution, ready for anything in case something really was wrong with her. Mitchie took her hands away from him and held them up, a smile on her face clearly saying, Nothing wrong!

"I just tripped and it scared me, that's why I screamed," she lied, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm all right." She waved to him before Shane could ask her any more questions, and was praying, _praying_ she could walk away without any incident.

Apparently her luck was completely out.

She had collapsed and was in his arms again for the second time that night as her ankle gave out under her. "You're a terrible liar once someone gets to know you," he said dryly, hoisting her up wedding style as she squirmed uncomfortably in his grip. The cabin door was an inch open and Shane stuck his foot in the crack, pulling it open.

Mitchie huffed, "This is completely unnecessary Shane Gray."

"Sure," he replied distractedly, putting her on the only bunk in the cabin and flipping on the battery powered lamp by his bedside. He turned back to her and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked menacing in the half light, and Mitchie remained silent, staring at her hands. "Now. What happened Mitchie?"

She sighed. Shane was never going to let this go, she knew. So she might as well just tell the truth. Or most of the truth anyway. "I was going for a walk," she started, avoiding his light brown eyed gaze. "And while I was walking, my foot got caught in a hole and I tripped and fell." For a moment he was silent, then he knelt down and started to take her boots off. "Whoa, Shane, what are you doing?" she asked, trying to pull her legs away from him.

"Holy..." Shane's jaw dropped at the sight of Mitchie's swollen ankle. "And you were trying to _walk_ on this?" She shrugged shamefully and stared determinedly at the floor of the cabin. He shook his head and walked over to the first aid kit hanging on the wall of the cabin, pulling an ace bandage out of it. He knelt down by her and tried to roll her jean leg up to wrap up her ankle. Unable to do so, he pressed his lips into a tight line.

"You okay?" she asked, oblivious to the tightness of her jeans.

He mumbled, "These are going to have to come off, Mitchie."

She pulled her legs up close to her chest and yelped, half with shock, half with the pain of her ankle, "_What_?!"

Blushing, Shane responded, "Don't get mad at me! It's not my fault you sprained or broke or whatever your ankle, Mitchie." She wanted to tell him it was all his fault. That it was his doing that she fell in love with him, that they would never see each other again. His fault hat she wanted him so badly that it hurt, that it led her to standing outside out his cabin silently, just knowing that he was sleeping peacefully a few feet away from her.

However she didn't say a word, scooting over to the edge of the bed and unbuttoning the jeans. "Unnecessary," she grumbled, sliding them off, carefully over her injured ankle, and tossing them to the floor. She stuck out her foot to him and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a disgruntled glare. "Do what you need to Shane." He nodded and carefully set her leg on his lap, gingerly wrapping the tan bandage around the swollen part.

It took a little less than three minutes, but when she grabbed her jeans and tried to get up to leave, he restrained her. "You don't think you're actually going to be walking on that do you?" he asked, appalled.

"Why wouldn't I?" She struggled to get out of his arms, but he refused to release her. She looked back him, frowning. "Let me go."

He tightened his grip. "No way."

"C'mon! Let go, Shane!"

"I don't think so, Mitchie." She paused in her struggling, sitting in silence as Shane watched her pout in amusement. "Are you done?" She nodded and he opened his arms, leaving his hand on hers. Mitchie quickly stood up to try and leave, but he tugged on her hand, toppling her backwards and leaving them in a compromising situation on his bed. He leaned over her, his arms holding himself up on opposite sides of her body.

"Shane?" she whispered, her heart pounding in her chest.

"What were you really doing outside?" he asked softly, his face very near her own. She flinched. He hadn't bought her story for a moment, she knew.

"Wondering if you're going to miss me as much as I'm going to miss you," she whimpered, tears coming to her eyes. "Scared that once we leave Camp Rock, we'll never see each other again. I can't live with myself if I don't see you Shane, you're everything to me." His eyes traced along her face, the tears gently streaming down her cheeks and the strands of hair strewn across his pillow. He lightly pressed his lips to hers, his eyes closed, and her eyes closed and their hearts beating rapidly in their chests.

His hand rested on her leg, her skin smooth against his calloused hands, tracing up to her stomach. "Whoa, wait." Shane shook his head and sat beside her, waiting for an explanation for her outburst. She sat up and flattened her hair. "This is not the best idea at the moment, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry," he replied softly, standing up from the bed. As he started to talk, he began to pace, back and forth from one end of the bed to the other. "I just... I don't know, Mitchie. This is the last day of Camp Rock, and we can keep in touch, but how long will it be before we see each other again?"

Mitchie smiled weakly. "I know what you mean Shane."

Shane sat down on the bed next to her. "Are you sure Mitchie?" he asked, one of his hands cupping her cheek. "I think I love you, Mitchie. And I can't do anything about it."

"I love you too," she admitted, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms that had nothing to do with being cold. He pressed a kiss to her neck, sending a shiver up her spine, and she gripped his shirt, unsure of what to do or say. His lips trailed up to her jaw, finally meeting her own in a sweet kiss that didn't last long enough for her taste.

Shane said, "We'd get away with it, Mitchie. No one would ever know, or ever find out."

She nodded. "I know, Shane. I want to, more than anything in the world, but is it the right thing to do?"

He smiled. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Mitchie. Never. I respect you, too much for anything like that. But right here, right now could very well be the last time that I'll see you, and I just want you to know that the option is open." For a moment Mitchie thought on those words, the throbbing of her ankle almost gone in the wave of passion that she felt when she looked at Shane's handsome face.

Kneeling on the bed, she put her arms around Shane's neck and pulled him down beside her. "I won't be seventeen forever," she whispered. "One mistake, and that's it. One mistake."

He nodded and turned off the lights.

--

"Where were you last night?" Caitlyn asked Mitchie as she packed her clothes into her duffel bag. The smile on her face was almost glued there, and Caitlyn had never seen her friend so happy.

She shrugged. "I hurt my ankle going on a late night walk, and Shane found me outside. He wouldn't let me go back to my cabin, so I spent the night there. No big deal."

Caitlyn smiled, and from the look on her face, Mitchie knew she didn't buy a single word she just said. "Oh okay. Is your ankle feeling better at all?"

She looked around as Shane Gray passed her cabin, carrying a set of crutches and a smile as big as her own. He pushed open the door and their eyes met. "A little bit," she admitted, giving him a hug as he walked in.


End file.
